Children's Rose Quartz Bracelet — 16 cm, Elastic

A small beaded bracelet strung on elastic cord, made from natural rose quartz and sized for a child's wrist at 16 cm. It slips over the hand — there is no clasp, nothing to fasten, and nothing a child has to ask an adult to help with.

What rose quartz actually is

Rose quartz is quartz — silicon dioxide, the same mineral as rock crystal and amethyst, and one of the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. What makes it pink is not a dye but microscopic mineral fibres growing inside the crystal, closely related to dumortierite. Those fibres scatter light, which is why rose quartz is almost always cloudy or milky rather than glass-clear. A rose quartz bead that looks perfectly transparent and vividly pink is usually glass or dyed stone, not rose quartz.

Quartz is hard — 7 on the Mohs scale — so these beads will not scratch against keys or a zip. The stone is durable. The elastic is the part that wears out.

Safety — please read this before buying for a young child

Not suitable for children under 3 years. This is a strand of small beads on an elastic cord. Elastic perishes, and when it goes it goes all at once, releasing every bead at the same moment. Loose beads of this size are a choking hazard for toddlers and a serious risk if pushed into a nose or ear.

For older children, check the elastic every few weeks: if it looks stretched, chalky, or if gaps have opened between the beads, retire the bracelet or have it restrung. Take it off for sleeping and for swimming — chlorine and repeated soaking both shorten the life of the cord.

An honest word on crystal properties

Rose quartz is widely associated with love, calm and self-kindness, and that association is old and pleasant. It is not, however, supported by clinical evidence, and we are not going to tell you otherwise. This is a piece of jewellery, not a treatment. It is not a medical device, it does not replace medical or psychological care, and it should never be given to a child as a substitute for either. Bought as what it is — a pretty pink stone that a child chose and likes wearing — it is a lovely small thing.

Looking after it

Rose quartz is one of the few quartzes that genuinely fades. Prolonged direct sunlight will lighten the pink permanently, and it does not come back. Store it in a drawer or a pouch rather than on a sunny windowsill. Clean it with a soft damp cloth. Keep it away from perfume, sunscreen and hand gel, which sit in the gaps between the beads and dull them.